Filipino nursing recruits hired by Saskatoon Health Region continue to settle into their jobs and the community, says a health region administrator. “We have heard such good things, not only from the nurses who are working with (the Filipino nurses), but also from our clients and patients,” said Bonnie Blakley, vice-president of people strategies for Saskatoon Health Region.
Filipino Nurses
A_third_wave of about 30 nurses from the Philippines is set to arrive in Saskatoon on Monday. The first group came in August followed by another group in October.
None of the 38 nurses who’ve come to Saskatoon has been fired and the Saskatoon Health Region plans to continue hiring until all 105 nurses recruited earlier this year arrive in the region
The Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region will also bring more nurses from the Philippines to the province, despite having to fire five of its recent recruits.
“We cannot discuss the details of those specific personnel matters due to the privacy rights, but what I can tell you is that we have dismissed five nurses from the Philippines,” confirmed Debbie Beaton, director of Strategic Human Resources Planning and Development for Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region.
The nurses lost their jobs between June and September because they failed to meet the region’s expectations, she said.
Dawn Martin, the health ministry’s director of planning and provincial recruitment projects, said it’s important to put the number of nurses let go in context.
“We have 170 Filipino nurses who have arrived in the province and we’re talking about five (who have been terminated),” she said. “We need to be mindful of the context and keep an eye on what’s happening. . . . Public safety is paramount and the region is doing its due diligence in managing it.”
Dismissing nurses is rare in the Saskatoon Health Region. On average, about two registered nurses or registered psychiatric nurses are let go each year and only as a last resort, says Blakley.
“One is a values-based reason where someone is acting against the values of the organization or in a way that they are not providing what I would consider to be competent care because of behaviour as opposed to clinical expertise,” she said.
So far this fiscal year, three nurses — none from the Philippines — have been fired in the Saskatoon region. That’s out of about 2,700 registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses.(source)
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